New private home sales jump 42% in September

Sales of new private homes in Singapore rose about 42 per cent in September from a year earlier, as developers returned to the market with new launches following the previous month’s slump.

Data released by the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) on Monday (Oct 15) showed developers sold 932 units last month, compared with 657 units in the same month last year.

Compared with the 617 units sold in August, sales rose 51 per cent, URA data showed.

September’s data represents a rebound from August, when private home sales slumped 50.6 per cent following cooling measures introduced by the Government in July.

DEMAND FOR NEW PROJECTS

Real estate group Huttons Asia said that the rebound in September was expected “largely due to return to normalcy after cooling measures, more launches and the end of the lunar seventh month”.

In September, developers launched 1,169 units, compared with the 73 units the same month last year and 534 units in August.

Among the top-selling projects were new launches Jadescape in Shunfu Road and Mayfair Gardens in Bukit Timah, where 327 and 82 homes were sold, respectively. Those two projects accounted for almost 44 per cent of the sales volume in September, Huttons noted.

Continued demand for units at Stirling Residences in Queenstown, Park Colonial in Potong Pasir and Riverfront Residences in Hougang also contributed to September’s sales volume.

Mr Lee Sze Teck, head of research at Huttons, said that he expects up to 3,500 units to be launched in the last quarter of this year.

These include mega launches such as the 1,399-unit Parc Esta at Eunos, 716-unit Whistler Grand at West Coast and 548-unit Kent Ridge Hill Residences at Pasir Panjang.

In terms of sales, developers may sell 9,000 to 10,000 units during the entire year, he added.

BUYING WILL PICK UP FURTHER

Property analysts said buying activities are likely to further pick up as more launches are on the cards, including The Woodleigh Residences and Parc Esta which is at the site of what was Eunosville HUDC.

In addition, more buyers could also turn to new home sales instead of the resale market.

“Some buyers may have switched their buying interest to new home sales as prices of resale homes are holding firm. Individual resellers may have been reluctant to drop prices as the economy and job market is still healthy,” said OrangeTee’s head of research and consultancy Christine Sun.

She also noted that the recent cooling measures – tighter financing rules and increased Additional Buyers’ Stamp Duty – have clipped foreign buying interest.

Foreigners’ share of the new non-landed housing pie sank to 4.2 per cent last month, down from 5.8 per cent in August and 10.8 per cent year-on-year, she said.

As developers become more confident in launching projects, the recovery from the recent cooling measures may come sooner than expected, said JLL’s national director of research and consultancy Ong Teck Hui.

“It would appear that while demand has slowed, many buyers are still on the market and are prepared to purchase at prices which they deem as reasonable.

“If the trend of launches can be sustained with fair sales take-up, market confidence is likely to improve and recovery from the cooling measures may be sooner than expected,” he added.

Source: Channel NewsAsia – 15 Oct 2018

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